10 facts about the bridge on the river kwai

See some of the commonly asked questions about the Special Committee. The film was directed by David Lean and starred William Holding, Jack Hawkins and academy award winner Sir Alex Guinness. 1957 World War II film directed by David Lean, This article is about the film. To keep costs down, producer Sam Spiegel decided not to hire any extras, using crew members and Ceylon locals instead. 12. Nevertheless, the leeches in the recreated swamps were real. The action of the movie takes place in a Japanese prisoner-of-war (POW) camp in Burma during World War II. Despite the discomfort the rest of the crew were experiencing, Lean was thrilled about the shoot and never complained about his living conditions. Some sections, such as the infamous Hellfire Pass, required carving through tough sheer rock. The producer's press release, thoughwanting to emphasize that this was a Big Budget Hollywood Pictureclaimed the bridge had cost $250,000. The movie was mainly filmed in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and also in England. It was still highly unusual at that time for a television network to show such a long film in one evening; most films of that length were still generally split into two parts and shown over two evenings. All Rights Reserved. The year: 1943. During its construction, approximately 13,000 prisoners of war died and were buried along the railway. The railway ran for 250 miles from Ban Pong, Thailand to Thanbyuzayat, Burma and is now known as the Death Railway. The rail link, however, would . The Bridge On The River Kwai Trivia: Fun And Interesting Facts About The Bridge On The River Kwai: Fascinating Facts About The Bridge on the River Kwai - Kindle edition by Randolph, Amanda. True Grit, Sanctum, Green Lantern and Superman. [61][62], In 1972, the movie was among the first selection of films released on the early Cartrivision video format, alongside classics such as The Jazz Singer and Sands of Iwo Jima. 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. Lean wanted to use the tune in Kwai, figured those lyrics wouldn't pass the censors (or the approval of the composer's widow), and opted to have the troops whistle it instead. To enjoy Thailand River cruises, you need to understand a little about the geography of Thailand and its river system. The Kwai River Bridge was part of the meter-gauge railway constructed by the Japanese during World War Two. They built a railway to link Bangkok to Rangoon. Walk over the steel bridge at the River Kwai, one of the most famous rivers in the world, which gained international fame in the book and film, "Bridge on the River Kwai". See details. By daybreak, however, the river level has dropped, exposing the wire connecting the explosives to the detonator. Concurrently, Shears, after a harrowing journey in which he nearly loses his life more than once, is rescued by the British and then required to lead a group of commandoes headed by Major Warden (Jack Hawkins) back to the POW camp that he escaped from in order to blow up the bridge. The screenplay was based on French author Pierre Boulle"s 1954 novel of the same name. Everywhere in the jungle, the graveyards made their appearance; starting in a small way they gradually grew bigger, until when the railway was completed at the end of the year, thousands of bodies lay in the jungle from one end to the other.. Major Warden of SOE invites Shears to join a commando mission to destroy the bridge just as it is completed. A photo of Kitulgala, Sri Lanka in 2004, where the bridge was made for the film. Instead, the Lt. Col would stand up for his men when necessary to try to alleviate some of their hardships. A Cholera epidemic swept through Nieke Camp between May-June 1943. It was set up at the beginning of the Burma-Siams construction. [9], The film was relatively faithful to the novel, with two major exceptions. By this time, the United States and its naval and industrial might had entered the war. Starring Alec Guinness, William Holden, and Sessue Hayakawa, among others, it paints an . The Bridge on the River Kwai | Moviepedia | Fandom The key sites containing Thailand and Burma war graves related to Death Railway and the Bridge on the River Kwai are: Kanchanaburi War Cemetery is located a short distance from the former Kanburi POW camp. 10. The Japanese did indeed force British, Dutch, Australian, and American prisoners to build the Burma Railway, resulting in some 13,000 POW deaths and at least 80,000 civilian deaths. This meant that some of the British prisoners were actually natives of the region wearing make-up to appear Caucasian. But poor old Goebbels Both the wooden and the adjacent steel bridge were subjected to numerous air raids between January and June 1945. David Lean's 1957 epic Bridge on the River Kwai is regarded as one of the all-time great war films. River Kwai (Kanchanaburi): All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go - Tripadvisor In many tense, dramatic scenes, only the sounds of nature are used. While Nicholson disapproves of acts of sabotage and other deliberate attempts to delay progress, Toosey encouraged this: termites were collected in large numbers to eat the wooden structures, and the concrete was badly mixed. One of a number of Allied POW"s . Around 3,100 Commonwealth Burma war graves can be found at Thanbyuzayat, alongside roughly 620 Dutch burials. Please select which sections you would like to print: Pat Bauer graduated from Ripon College in 1977 with a double major in Spanish and Theatre. Under cover of darkness, Shears and Joyce plant explosives on the bridge towers. He wanders into a Burmese village, is nursed back to health, and eventually reaches the British colony of Ceylon. He had basically retired when Lean approached him to play Colonel Saito in Kwai, a performance that earned Hayakawa an Oscar nomination. In the meantime, Shears manages to escape. Alec Guiness, William Holden, and Jack Hawkins in front of bridge they built in a scene from the film 'The Bridge On The River Kwai', 1957. [11] Guinness admitted that Lean "didn't particularly want me" for the role, and thought about immediately returning to England when he arrived in Ceylon and Lean reminded him that he wasn't the first choice. Desperate, he uses the anniversary of Japan's 1905 victory in the Russo-Japanese War as an excuse to save face; he announces a general amnesty, releasing Nicholson and his officers and exempting them from manual labour. But the unusual move paid off for ABCthe telecast drew huge ratings with a record audience of 72 million[60] and a Nielsen rating of 38.3 and an audience share of 61%. When, the next morning, Saito orders all the British prisoners to begin building the bridge under the command of a Japanese engineer, Nicholson and the other officers refuse, even when Saito threatens to kill them. First Joyce and then Shears are killed in the ensuing gunfire. Saito is expected to commit ritual suicide if he fails to meet the rapidly approaching deadline. The process of adapting Pierre Boulle's French-language novel Le Pont de la Riviere Kwai was difficult (more on that later), but the two writers ultimately responsible for it were Carl Foreman (High Noon) and Michael Wilson (A Place in the Sun). 16- "You make me sick with your heroics! The Bridge on the River Kwai, Kanchanaburi, Thailand - Travel 4. [12], William Holden's deal was considered one of the best ever for an actor at the time, with him receiving $300,000 plus 10% of the film's gross receipts. The Colonel Bogey strain was accompanied by a counter-melody using the same chord progressions, then continued with film composer Malcolm Arnold's own composition, "The River Kwai March", played by the off-screen orchestra taking over from the whistlers, though Arnold's march was not heard in completion on the soundtrack. [50] William Holden was also credited for his acting for giving a solid characterization that was "easy, credible and always likeable in a role that is the pivot point of the story". Full scale plan drawing for the main cantilever bridge design. [41] According to Variety, the film earned estimated domestic box office revenues of $18,000,000[42] although this was revised downwards the following year to $15,000,000, which was still the biggest for 1958 and Columbia's highest-grossing film at the time. During the cutting of Hellfire Pass, for example, 69 men were beaten to death across a twelve-week period. We want to hear from you! [13], Many directors were considered for the project, among them John Ford, William Wyler, Howard Hawks, Fred Zinnemann, and Orson Welles (who was also offered a starring role). "[55], Balu Mahendra, the Tamil film director, observed the shooting of this film at Kitulgala, Sri Lanka during his school trip and was inspired to become a film director. What's happening in this "The Bridge on the River Kwai" movie clip?Warden (Jack Hawkins from Land of the Pharaohs and Ben-Hur) fires a mortar, wounding Nicho. Instead of the five year predicted completion, the bridge on river Kwai, was completed in 16 months. The Bridge On The River Kwai | Film Locations Also, in the novel, the bridge is not destroyed: the train plummets into the river from a secondary charge placed by Warden, but Nicholson (never realising "what have I done?") A sketch of that bridge was used as the basis for the fictional one. Kwai River Bridge - History and Facts | History Hit [31][32] Some consider the film to be an insulting parody of Toosey. Nicholson will not cooperate and finally insists that the bridge can be built only under his command. The film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. The Bridge on the River Kwai / Trivia - TV Tropes Real Bridge on the River Kwai | New Scientist Mortally wounded, he falls onto the plunger, the bridge is blown up, and the train with the dignitaries falls into the river. In particular, they objected to the implication presented in the film that Japanese military engineers were generally unskilled at their profession and lacked proficiency.

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